Internet Antique Gazette » stone relics pre historic

Celt

hcst — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:45:58 +0000

Celt

Small celts were used as skinning tools. Larger examples could have been used as small chopping devices, like a small ax. Sizes can vary greatly, and they can be made out of slate or granite. They would correctly be classified as tools, as would a stone ax or hammer.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.

Plummets

hcst — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:01:28 +0000

Plummets

The artifact that we call a plummet, named for the resemblance of its tear-drop shape to the carpenter’s plumb-bob, first appeared in the Late Archaic period, about 1000 B.C. They are found all over the U.S., and the world as well, made from various materials available in the local area either naturally or by trade, including hematite, hardstone, copper, antler and marine shell. They may be well crafted, ornamented and polished or crude in fabrication and plain in decoration. Some have a perforation or drilled hole at the small pointed end, others do not. Some have grooves encircling this end, many do not.

One type of plummet with grooves and a pointed base is called a “Snyders Grooved Plummet”and was made during the Middle and Late Woodlands Period, dating from about 100 B.C. to 450 A.D. They take their name from having been found in several burials on the Snyders site in Calhoun County, Illinois. Another variety of grooved plummet is called the Gilcrease and typically has a flattened end above its grooves. This variety of plummet dates to the Archaic Period, approximately 4000 to 1000 B.C. in America.

Another type of plummet found primarily in the mid-west is the Godar; it features a drilled hole near its small end and dates to the Middle to Late Archaic Period.

Plummets retain a strong sense of mystery about them as there is no scientifically provable use definition for them. Some have speculated that they may have been used as weights for bolas or fishing nets. This theory is supported by the fact that plummets are most often found near water -the east coast and Florida, the California coast and the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. Other commentators, pointing to highly polished examples and those with drilled holes ideal for a neck cord, posit plummets were articles of personal ornament. Similarly the relics may have served a religious function as an amulet or talisman. Some of this feeling may be behind the California tradition of calling these artifacts ‘charmstones’.

Whatever their purpose, the inclusion of plummets in period burial sites demonstrate that they were prized possessions of their owners, and they continue to be so today.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.

Hematite Artifacts

hcst — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:20:10 +0000

Hematite Artifacts

Hematite is the mineral form of iron oxide comprising up to 70 percent iron. It is colored black to gray, brown or red, usually with a rust-red streak. The mineral takes its name from the Greek, “haimatites”, which we translate as bloodlike, thus the name alludes to the vivid red color of the iron powder.

Hematite is harder than pure iron, but much more brittle. Large deposits of hematite are found in banded iron formations. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a major source for this mineral.

Grey hematite is typically found in places where there has standing water or mineral hot springs. Under these conditions hematite can precipitate out of the water and collect in layers at the bottom of a lake or spring.

The archeological evidence suggests that North American pre-historic Indians actively traded for materials such as hematite. Grindstones, celts, plummets, spades, axes, pipes and gorgets are all artifacts from the Archaic and Woodlands eras made from hematite.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.

Snyders Archelogical Site

hcst — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:10:56 +0000

Snyders Archelogical Site

Snyders is the name attached to the site of an important pre-historic Indian village on a farm owned by Andrew Snyders. The site is located in Calhoun County, Illinois, five miles north of Batchtown. It’s situated at the foot of the eastern Mississippi River bluff on a sloping terrace. It covers approximately six to eight acres of the bluff-base slope. Hopewell culture burial mounds are located on top of the bluff.

Artifacts first began to be systematically recovered from this site by Walter Wadlow, who discovered it in1940.

Among the oldest objects recovered from the Snyders site is a red ochre blade and three Morse knives dating to the Late Archaic to Early Woodlands Period. The primary culture using this site is Hopewell (Woodlands Period), with some material coming from the Late Woodland Jersey Bluff Culture (Jersey County lies just to the east of the Snyders site, across the Illinois River), which succeeded them. Overall, the age of the Snyders site is estimated to be from 1000 B.C. to 600 A.D.

For a period in the 1950′s Mr. Snyders allowed people to dig on the site for the payment of a small fee. From the 1940′s into the 1970′s the Snyders site was the scene of significant excavation, with some work being undertaken by university archeologists, some by serious amateur archeologists, and some by private relic collectors digging for their own collections or for resale. Prior to this period it is known that artifacts would surface naturally with the farm plowing, rain and other activities. They would be given or sold casually to interested parties with no records being kept or any interest expressed in their historical context.

Over the course of its excavation, the site’s name has been attached to several distinctive forms of artifacts recovered there, including Snyders points and Snyders plummets. Perhaps the most famous artifact coming from this site is known as the Ross blade. It is a large 7 inch brown/amber colored point made of Knife River Chalcedony from North Dakota. It is said to be one of the finest crafted points ever found in North America. The Ross blade was excavated in 1944 by Dr. Paul F. Titterington.

In addition to stone artifacts, the Snyders site has yielded significant finds in marine shell and pottery shards. It has also produced very significant and rarely encountered examples of preserved pre-historic plant life.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.

Dovetail Points

hcst — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:55:47 +0000

Dovetail Points

Officially known as St. Charles points, but commonly called Dovetail or Plevna points, these prehistoric artifacts are medium to large points with narrow corner or side notches defining the base or stem. The base is typically fan shaped and resembles the spread-out tail of a dove, hence the collector’s term for this form. A small number of these points have been found having a shallow basal notch.

Dovetail points are associated with the Early Archaic to Middle Archaic periods, about 9000 to 5000 B.C. They have been found throughout the midwestern to eastern United States. The St. Charles name was given to this type of point by Edward G. Scully in 1951 for points that he found in the central Mississippi valley in St. Charles County, Missouri.

St. Charles, or dovetail, points range from about 1.5″ to 10.5″ in length, however dovetails longer than 4″ are rare. In 1966 Earl Townsend, an authority on these points, reported that no more than 40 dovetails longer than 7″ in length were known to exist. Dovetail points tend to be robust in heft and this, combined with signs of numerous resharpenings, suggest that the larger sizes may have been used as knives.

Dovetails are typically characterized by superior workmanship and materials, which contribute to making them prized examples for collectors. The downside of this excellence is that their popularity has also resulted in the creation of many modern examples by contemporary flint knappers. Documentation is one key to authentication of dovetails; any examples, particularly larger sized examples, without a documented history should be evaluated with care.

Further information about St. Charles / dovetail points and other pre-historic Indian artifacts may be found at http://www.lithicsnet.com. Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.